ROBOTS AND

ROBOT SENSORS
 ROBOTICS TERMINOLOGY

• Robot - Mechanical device that performs human

tasks, either automatically or by remote control.
• Robotics - Study and application of robot
technology.

2
“Robot” coined by Karel
Capek in 1921 in a science-
fiction Czech play. He
wrote a story called
Rossum’s Universal Robots
and introduced the word
“Rabota”(meaning
worker/labour)
LAWS OF
ROBOTICS
Law 1: A robot may not injure a human being or
through inaction, allow a human being to come to
harm.
Law 2: A robot must obey orders given to it by
human beings, except where such orders would
conflict with the first law.
Law 3: A robot must protect its own existence
IDEAL TASKS
Tasks which are:
• Dangerous
• Space exploration
• Chemical spill cleanup
• Disarming bombs
• Disaster cleanup
• Boring and/or repetitive
• Welding car frames
• Part pick and place
• Manufacturing parts.
• High precision or high speed
• Electronics testing
• Surgery
WHAT MAKES A MACHINE
A ROBOT?
SENSING PLANNING ACTING
Information about Action on the
the environment environment
 ACCESSORIES
SENSING PLANNING ACTING
Action on the
Information about environment
the environment

Sensors : Controller : Actuators :

Sensors are used to collect information about The controller receives data from the Actuators are the muscles of the
the internal state of the robot or to communicate computer, controls the motions of the manipulators. Common types of actuators
with the outside environment. Robots are often actuator and coordinates these motions with are servomotors, stepper motors,
equipped with external sensory devices such as the sensory feedback information. pneumatic cylinders etc.
a vision system, touch and tactile sensors etc
which help to communicate with the
environment
WHAT IS
SENSING ?
So, like, gurl,
what’s a sensor?

9
A sensor detects
the environment.
What does
that mean?
 A sensor is like one of our
five (5) senses; it tells you what is
going on in the outside world;
except that sensors send information
to an electronic device, like
a computer.
Yeah, a sensor can help
a robot move around
without running into
anything.
UNDERSTANDING SENSORS
NOTE:
• Sensors are not magical boxes.
• All information you get from sensors must be decoded by you, the human builder and
programmer.

• Sensors convert information about the environment into a form that can be used by
the computer.
• The sensors that are on the robot can be related to sensors found in humans
• These sensors convert information about the environment into neural code that your
brain can understand:
Examples: Touch sensors embedded in your skin, Visual sensors in your retina. Hair
cells in your ear

• Your brain needs to understand the neural code before you can react
• Since you will be programming the robot, you will need to understand the output of the
sensors begore you can program your robot to react to different stimuli.
HUMAN SENSING AND ORGANS
• Vision: eyes (optics, light)
• Hearing: ears (acoustics, sound)
• Touch: skin (mechanics, heat)
• Odor: nose (vapor-phase chemistry)
• Taste: tongue (liquid-phase chemistry )
TRANSDUCTION TO
ELECTRONICS
• Thermistor: temperature-to-resistance
• Electrochemical: chemistry-to-voltage
• Photocurrent: light intensity-to-current
• Pyroelectric: thermal radiation-to-voltage
• Humidity: humidity-to-capacitance
• Length (LVDT: Linear variable differential transformers) :
position-to-inductance
• Microphone: sound pressure-to-<anything>
TYPES OF SENSORS
ACTIVE
Send signal into environment and measure interaction of signal with
environment
Example: radar, sonar

PASSIVE
Record signals already present in environment
 SENSORS USED IN ROBOT

20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 18

ANALOG VS
DIGITAL SENSORS

Analog sensors allow us to take

readings over a range of values
rather than just an ON/OFF
condition. The digital pins on the
Arduino provide a 1-bit signal
(HIGH/LOW). The Arduino has a
built-in 10-bit Analog-to-Digital
Converter (ADC).
9 SENSORS
FOR ARDUINO
https://www.learnrobotics.org/blog/popular-arduino-sensors/#1-
Ultrasonic-Sensor-with-Arduino
1. ULTRASONIC
SENSOR WITH
ARDUINO
Ultrasonic Sensors are popular for measuring
distances and object avoidance. The HC-SR04
and PING sensors are two common models. For
less than $2 per sensor, you can calculate
distances of 0.78 in-196 in (2cm-500cm). The
HC-SR04 has four pins (Ground, Power, Trig, and
Echo).

Rather than connecting the signal pins (Echo and

Trig) into the analog pins on the Arduino, you’ll
use two digital PWM pins. Here’s a wiring
diagram that you can use to connect this sensor
to the Arduino.
 Basic principle of operation:
Emit a quick burst of ultrasound
(50kHz), (human hearing: 20Hz to
20kHz)
Measure the elapsed time until the
receiver indicates that an echo is
detected.
Determine how far away the nearest
object is from the sensor

D=v*t
ULTRASONIC D = round-trip distance

SENSORS
v = speed of propagation(340 m/s)
t = elapsed time
APPLICATIONS
FOR
ULTRASONIC
SENSORS

Mobile Robot Object Avoidance

 Distance or Height Calculations

APPLICATIONS FOR ULTRASONIC SENSORS

IR SENSOR
WITH
ARDUINO
Another popular sensor is the IR
sensor. This sensor can be used to
detect objects or contrast. It’s a
popular choice for line following or
line avoidance in robotics.

The IR sensor has three pins (Ground,

Power, and Signal). Connect the
signal pin to any analog pin on the
Arduino. Here’s how to wire an IR
Sensor to an Arduino Uno.

https://circuitdigest.com/microcontroller-projects/interfacing-ir-sensor-module-with-arduino
HOW IR SENSOR WORKS?
APPLICATIONS
FOR IR
SENSORS

Popular applications for IR sensors

include line following (and avoiding)
for mobile robots, Tripwires, Flame
Detection, and even motion detection
(PIR). For flame detection and motion
detection, you’ll have to buy a
specific flame sensor and PIR sensor,
respectively.
3. IR RECEIVER WITH
ARDUINO

Another type of IR sensor is an IR

receiver. Rather than using IR light to
detect an object or read a line, we’ll use
an IR receiver to decode the signal from a
TV remote.

This is helpful if you have a device you

want to control or if you want to use a
remote to drive a robot around. The IR
Receiver has three pins (Ground, Power,
and Signal). Connect the signal to any
digital pin on the Arduino. Here’s a
fritzing diagram for an IR receiver
connected to the Arduino Uno.
4. PHOTORESISTOR
WITH ARDUINO
The fourth analog sensor for Arduino is a photoresistor (also
known as a light-dependent resistor or LDR). Photoresistors
can detect brightness. If you want to build a robot that
follows a light or a prototype that triggers an action based
on light or dark conditions, you’ll want to use a
photoresistor.

Photoresistors have two pins (Ground and signal). Because a

photoresistor is a special type of resistor, you’ll create a
voltage divider against the signal. You’ll also use a 10KΩ
resistor to pull the signal up or down. This will determine
whether dark is a high or low reading.

Connect the resistor to Ground if you want low values to

represent darkness and high values to represent brightness.
Connect the resistor to power if you want to flip this metric
and have light values represent low reading. Refer to this
tutorial to program a photoresistor.

https://www.learnrobotics.org/blog/read-analog-sensors-
arduino/
5. TEMPERATURE
SENSOR (TMP36)
WITH ARDUINO

The next sensor on our list is

the TMP36 Temperature sensor.
You can also get a sensor module
like the BME280, which reads the
temperature, humidity, and also
atmospheric pressure.
This sensor is great for IoT
projects or if you want to make a
weather station. Here’s the wiring
diagram to connect the TMP36 to
the Arduino Uno.
6. NUMERIC
KEYPAD WITH
ARDUINO
A numeric keypad is another awesome
sensor to use with Arduino to provide
user input. While this isn’t an analog
sensor, it does provide many
combinations of numbers, passcodes,
and inputs for the Arduino.

Numeric keypads use eight digital inputs

to map out the rows and columns for
each button. You can purchase a 4x3
Keypad or a 4x4 Keypad. Here’s a
diagram to wire a 4×3 numeric keypad to
the Arduino Uno.

20XX PRESENTATION TITLE 31

7. POTENTIOMETER
WITH ARDUINO
Another popular sensor for Arduino is a
potentiometer. A potentiometer can be used for
many different hobby projects with the Arduino
Uno.
Some examples include controlling the brightness
of an LED or setting the speed of a motor
controller. Rotate the knob and you’ll get a
proportional reading from the built-in ADC on the
Arduino. Potentiometers have three pins (Ground,
Power, and Signal).
8. JOYSTICK WITH
ARDUINO
The joystick module has five wires: Ground,
Power, two analog inputs (VRx and VRy)
and one digital input (Selector Switch). Refer
to the joystick wiring diagram, above.

Using the analogRead() method, you can

read the horizontal (x) and vertical (y)
positions of the joystick. Since we’re using a
10-bit ADC, the home position or origin ends
up being in the center at (511,511). Then,
you can map these positions to drive a robot
or control an LED matrix. It’s an interesting
sensor to use if you need access to (x,y)
coordinates.
9. RFID READER
(RC522) WITH
ARDUINO
The RFID RC522 Reader (and
writer) is a popular choice for
automating door locks and
access systems. There are seven
wires for the RFID-RC522 sensor:
Ground, Power, and five digital
signal wires. Check out the
RC522 Wiring Diagram, below.